Rabbit Songs

RESTOCK. Released to great critical acclaim in the United Kingdom in late 2001 on Setanta, Hem’s debut album 'Rabbit Songs” has drawn comparisons to artists as disparate as Nick Drake, Mazzy Star, Sandy Denny and Jeff Buckley. Songwriter Dan Messe, engineer / producer Gary Maurer and guitarist Steve Curtis met singer Sally Ellyson when Sally responded to an ad placed in the Village Voice. Sally left a message on Dan’s answering machine saying she had never sung before, but would give it a try, and thenproceeded to sing the lullaby “Lord Blow The Moon Out Please”, which opens the album. The music is lush and filled with eclectic harmonies: a mandolin enveloped by an 18-piece orchestra, a pedal steel accentuated by a glockenspiel, underpinned by the guitar in an elaborate framework. And through it all, Sally’s beautiful voice shapes each word.